Research & Pre Production

Initial Research

Genre Research/ Existing Products

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtY--67OSp8

From watching this documentary I have taken some inspiration from different aspects. For example, I like how the man who is being interviewed is being interviewed in his own house and where he creates his art. I also like how he is interviewed around his art. This has inspired me and made me think about where I am going to interview people for my documentary. From this documentary I now know that I want to interview people at their own house around their instruments. Therefore, I can capture more realistic B-roll of them playing their instrument in their usual environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dl0Vk5Zpis

Watching the interviews in this mini documentary I liked how it was edited so that each person being interviewed answered the same questions right after each other. I like how they asked each person the same questions and then placed their answers together instead of including a full interview for each person without any changes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu9jTzLcees

In this documentary I liked how it showed the true reasons for why the man makes his art. I like how this was shown by telling a story as he talks about when he started creating his art and what it has done for him since then. He talks about why he does it and why he enjoys this hobby and passion so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVUMSUtxma4

After watching this documentary I wanted to use it as a source of inspiration. I was inspired by this video because instead of just including interviews throughout the documentary it also showed the people enjoying their instruments and it showed their passion for playing their instruments. I also liked how they were trying to spread a message to inspire others to create their own music and 'preserve' these skills.

Artist/ Media Role Research

Producer -

The role of the Film Producer || Paula Wagner || Spotlight

The role of a producer in a film is to put together a group of people that work well together and help to make the project come to life. Their job is to also help bring the directors vision to life by helping to plan out what each person who is involved by the film or documentary is going to do on each day.

Director -

(525) What A Director Does On Set: Crew Breakdown - YouTube

A directors role in a film or documentary is to oversee the entire process of the project. This means that they are watching over from the pre-production to the post-production stage. Their job is to direct each member of the film and decide what they are going to do on each day. They help to bring their own vision to life by directing other.

Cinematography -

What Is The Job Of A Cinematographer?

The job of a cinematographer in a film is to hold the camera and film each shot. They have to plan out the different shots that are going to be used and plan out the angle that each shot is going to be capturing.

Lighting Research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HwgkOKP_VU

From watching this video I am going to take some of the techniques I have learnt and test them during action research. I am going to do this so I can test and begin to understand exactly how I want my interview to look and how I want the lighting to be presented. I will also use these techniques to improve the overall quality of my work. When thinking about how I want the lighting in my interviews to look I think that I would like them to be in a lighter environment with the light pointing to one of the sides of the interviewees face.

Composition/ Technical Research

Camera Handbook - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S_S8P5NveQHdWucjtF7eiT3ESxftBSGwhwPDgr81Fh4/edit?tab=t.0

I am going to be using this camera handbook to increase my knowledge on how a camera works and how it can be manipulated to make an interview shot look how I want it to look. For example, this handbook has shown me how lighting can affect the focus of a camera and it shows what I can do to the camera to place certain things in focus and leave the background blurred.

Interview Styles

Standard -

A standard interview is when the subject is sitting close to the camera and looking of to the side. In this interview the subject will be looking at the interviewer who is sitting next to the camera. In these interviews the interviewee is often facing towards the source of light in a room so the camera captures the darker side of their face.

Interrotron -

This style of interview is when the subject/interviewee is looking directly into the lens of the camera as if they are making eye contact with the viewer. This style is very commonly used to create a more intimate style of interview however it requires more technology for it to work.

Conversational -

A conversational interview is when there is two people talking about the same topic and it is shot similarly to most films. It requires two different cameras shooting at the same time with each one pointing to a different person. This style is very useful for creating an interview with a natural style as if it is just a normal conversation between two people.

Host + Conversation -

This style of interview is when there is one camera shooting from the side. In the shot it shows the host of the interview and the interviewee. The interviews show the host asking the interviewee a range of questions and it is positioned like these two people are having a normal conversation.

In the moment -

An 'In the moment' interview shows the interviewee and the subject completing a task as they talk. For example, the subject could be showing the interviewer through their collection of something or it can even just be them walking. If this interview is done correctly it creates a natural conversation between the two people while still giving the viewer enough information.

Standard Voiceover -

In a standard voiceover the subjects face is not directly shown however, the voiceover of the interview or narration is being played in the background. The audio is played over B-roll footage of the subject doing something like their hobby.

Interview questions -

Asking The Right Questions: Documentary Interview Tips | Part 2

After watching this video I now know that when I ask the subject of the interview a question, the questions I ask have to show how interested I am in the person and their hobby. This then allows me to collect more compelling footage and it helps to give answers with more emotion in them. I am going to take what I have learnt from this tutorial and use it in my final documentary. One thing that I am going to take is the idea of asking the subject genuine questions where they can all link together to spread the message of my documentary. I am also going to research what I can about the person I am interviewing and the music that they play. I think that this will help a lot because it will allow me to create well-educated questions that I can then use to collect information and results that will prove helpful to the final documentary. I have also began to think about how I could link questions from each interview together so I can edit them all together during post-production.

Pre-Production

Locations & Risk Assessment

Copy of Risk Assessment

Time

Shot List

Storyboard

Costume & Props

Proposal/ Treatment

Copy of Proposal / Treatment - Scripts

Camera & Lighting Plan/ Set Design

Pre-Production Reflection:

Looking over my pre-production I can see that I have given myself a good idea for how I want my documentary to look including a list of the shots, a storyboard and even a set layout. I think that this pre-production that I have completed is going to help me a lot with both my action research and production. For example, I am going to take both the shot list and the storyboard into my action research test scene. I will use these shots and test them with the set layout I designed. This pre-production is also important because it allowed me to complete a risk assessment and locations form. Overall, I think that this pre-production went very well and it is going to help me a lot during both my action research and my production.

Action Research

Collecting Test Shots

In this lesson I began my action research by creating some test shots that I could use as inspiration when starting the first interview in my documentary. Overall, I think that these test shots went well and I was able to get a good idea of how I wanted my shots to be laid out and how I wanted the lighting to be. However, I also found some problems in my action research plans when capturing these shots. The main challenge is that I am doing action research alone meaning that when creating test shots I need to position the camera and start recording before I sit down in the chair in front of the camera. On multiple occasions this made it difficult to position the shot correctly because I would have to move the camera depending on my positioning the shot. In this lesson I was also supposed to create test footage that I could make into a test scene. I was unable to do this as I found it very difficult asking myself questions and then answering them. Finally, in this lesson I was also supposed to test different microphones to see what would be most effective for recording my interviews and B-roll footage. Once I set up both the sound kit and the lapel mic I tested them. When doing this I found it very difficult to see what microphone works best through the headphones. Overall, I came to the realisation that I need to have someone as an interviewee when doing my action research in order to create a good quality test scene and a microphone test.

I then placed the best shots in order like on a storyboard. This storyboard is a recreation of the one I created during pre-production however I have created the shots in real life. When looking at this storyboard I think it will help me to make a start on my first interview if I am struggling to find a way to start.

Testing audio equipment

Lapel Mic:

Before filming the test scene I decided to experiment with both the lapel mic and the sound kit. I came to the conclusion that the lapel mic was the better option for this documentary. This is because when I tested both microphones I saw some differences between them. One of these differences being that the boom mic did not pick my voice up as well as the lapel mic whenever I asked a question. I also think that the lapel mic is a lot more effective when it comes to bringing all the equipment to the interview locations. If I was to use a boom microphone and a sound kit then it would mean I would have to carry the tripod and microphone around to the different locations. This would be difficult to work around as I am working alone. However, the lapel microphone will be easy to carry around and was also in my opinion the best sounding microphone when I compared the two.

Boom Mic:

Create Test Scene

Interview question –

What made you start playing your instrument?

What has learning this skill done for you?

How long have you been playing your instrument?

Has playing this instrument helped you with anything else outside of playing music?

Do you like to play music with other musicians?

What could you say to someone else who is thinking about learning a musical instrument? Why should they start?

test scene.mp4

Test Scene Reflection:

When creating this test scene I was able to get my first idea of how I can lay out my interviews. I was able to test out the shots on my storyboard while also testing out different positions of where to place the light. This test scene also allowed me to try out the set design that I created in my pre-production. Overall, I think that this test scene was very successful because I was able have my first attempt at using some of my B-roll ideas even though there was no instruments around. This test scene also allowed me to use a lapel mic to collect audio and it helped me to decide to use a lapel microphone for all of my interviews. I think that this test scene is a clear representation of how I want my interviews to be laid out and it shows my thinking behind what shots I could use during production.

Testing Different Editing Techniques

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wZym4fQGig

A Lesson in Color Grading with @AidinRobbins | #BecomethePremierePro | Adobe Video

Lumetri Scales & Colour:

For my first attempt at trying an editing effect in this unit. I decided to try and use colour correction on my test footage that I collected. I then searched up a tutorial on how to do this and followed the tutorials steps. I used the effect 'lumetry colour' to edit my shot which helped me to improve the contrast between colours within the shot.

This shot shows what the finished product looked like after using the editing effect and using colour corrections. I think that this heavily improved the shot because it has improved the contrast between the darker colours and the brighter colours making the interview seem more intimate instead of just being set in a classroom.

Colour Wheels:

I then followed the rest of the video to see how I could further improve this shot. It then showed me how I could use a colour wheel to make the shot have more colour and less black and white. In the tutorial it says to add more blue to the highlights in the shot. This would help to darken the shot more. However, after testing this I felt that my shot would look better if I used a slightly brighter colour because there is lots of black and white in the shot. Therefore, I decided to add slight hints of green and yellow to my shot. This then helped it to be brighter and more appealing for the viewer.

Before:

In my opinion these editing effects heavily improved the shot because it made it look overall more professional and more refined. I think that I am going to use some of the editing effects that I have tested before on my interview footage during post production. I may also test some different colour correction techniques later on to see how I could improve my shots appearances further.

After:

Locations

Location 1:

This location will be used for the first interview where I will get someone to interview me as I direct and change the camera positions. This location will be where I film most of the B-roll for this interview. I am going to set up the camera in a similar position to where this photo was taken from. I chose this location because I think that it has a good 'neutral' background and is also a good location to film some of the B-roll footage.

Location 2:

This location will also be used for my first interview. I have chosen to have two interview locations because I think that if there is a problem with some of the footage e.g. the lighting is too dark, I will be able to then test filming in this other location. I like this location becaue it has bright colours and a nice background to film at. I think that the brighter colours will help to improve the lighting of this interview and also reflect how this is not a serious documentary with a serious subject.

Animations

I started creating my animation for the documentary by using the skills that I have learnt from A-level graphic design and starting up Adobe Illustrator and using the pen tool to draw the shape for the animation. I tested different shapes and colours but for the shot I was testing it on I decided on using a beige colour palette.

I then began to test different type fonts. I then decided to use 'Showcard Gothic' because I thought that it was bold and easy to read while at the same time it is not too serious. This means that it suits the theme of this documentary in a playful way.

With my remaining action research time I decided to test out how I could add animations into my documentary. These animations will be placed on the screen when it is the start of an interview to introduce the person who is being interviewed. I think that this addition would make my documentary seem a lot more professional and it would also be a good introduction to the different people I am interviewing. This is because it states both their name and a small piece of information about them. I am going to include this type of animation in all three of the interviews in my documentary. Now that I have created this animation and given my first thought to how I could integrate it into my documentary I can now think about other techniques that I could implement different types of animation into my final edit. Finally, by using this animation I think that it will help make the documentary move more smoothly and it will also help the mini documentaries shots to look more exciting as there will be more going on in the slow-moving interview.

Action Research Reflection

Overall, I think that this action research has been very successful and it is going to help me a lot during my production stage. Looking over it I can see that I have created a good quality plan showing the shots I am going to use in the form of both a storyboard and a test scene. While creating the test scene it also allowed me to test out the different types of audio equipment that I could use in my interviews. This helped me to make a decision on what audio equipment I am going to use, how I am going to edit my interviews and what edit effects I might want to add to my final documentary. During this action research it also gave me the opportunity to think of some of the locations I am going to film at. I then found two places where interviews can take place and that will be a good option to also record B-roll. Now that I have completed this action research I can say that it has been very successful and I think that I have done a good job at giving myself a good plan and starting point for my production.

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